The present invention relates to a vehicle tailgate such as a tailgate for a pickup type motor vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tailgate that has a system for restraining cargo extending beyond the tailgate.
Pickup trucks are light trucks with an open body or cargo box having low sides and a tailgate. Pickup trucks are popular vehicles and are well adapted for transporting a variety of cargo including boards, conduit and other elongated items. The tailgate is at the rearward end of the cargo box and is adapted to be lowered or pivoted to one side to facilitate loading or off-loading of cargo and to be raised or pivoted to a closed position to thereby retain cargo in the box during the transportation of the cargo. Sometimes, however, the cargo is too long to fit within the length of the cargo box. In many cases long cargo can be transported by the pickup truck by positioning the cargo mostly inside the cargo box but with one end portion of the cargo resting on top of, and extending beyond, the tailgate.
The practice of extending cargo beyond the length of a pickup truck cargo box in order to carry it is well known. Also well known are problems associated with the practice such as the problem of supporting the cargo during its transport while it extends beyond the cargo box. Tailgate extenders are known in the art for the purpose of supporting long cargo. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,671 Aug. 30, 2005 to Bruford et al. for “Vehicle Tailgate with Supplemental Tailgate Having Vertical Extension Mode” discloses a vehicle which has a tailgate with a supplemental tailgate that retracts within the tailgate and is extendable therefrom in order to provide different assist functions. Other tailgate extenders or auxiliary tailgates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,364,392 Apr. 2, 2002 to Meinke for “Tailgate Extender”; 6,932,404 Aug. 23, 2005 to Vejnar for “Retractable Auxiliary Tailgate”; and 6,988,756 Jan. 24, 2006 to Meinke et al. for “Modular Extender Tailgate.”
Another problem associated with the practice of transporting long cargo with pickup trucks is that of restraining the cargo to keep it in the bed while the truck is traveling over a rough road or uneven terrain. Although tailgate extenders are useful to provide support for long cargo items, there remains a need for a tailgate topper or system which has improved features the restraining cargo extending beyond the tailgate during its transportation. There also remains a need for a tailgate topper which can be provided during the original manufacture of the tailgate but can also be retrofit onto a tailgate after its manufacture. Still further, there remains a need for a tailgate topper which is easily used and can readily adapt to support and restrain cargo of different heights. And, of course, there remains a need for tailgate systems which are practical and economical to manufacture.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a tailgate system which has improved features for restraining long cargo. The present invention also provides a tailgate topper which readily supports and/or restrains long cargo of different heights or thicknesses. Still further, the present invention provides a tailgate topper that can be economically incorporated into the original manufacture of a tailgate or retrofit onto an already manufactured tailgate. These and other advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following disclosure and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.